Summary: Every Time Connect 3 Goes On Tour, There's Always Something Special About Arizona That Shane Can't Resist.

Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Rock. Trust me, if I did, Shane would have made Mitchie's 'Camp Rock' a long time ago ;) haha...

Arizona

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Chapter Eight – Welcome Back Home

"Here you go," Shane sat next to Mitchie on the school cafeteria style table that was inside of 'Pump It Up', a giant building full of different inflatable bouncy castles. "I got you some cake."

It had been a week since Mitchie's incident with Ken and she and Hayley had moved in with Shane. Things were kind of weird at first, more for Mitchie than Hayley who felt totally at home living with Shane, but they were starting to get easier. Shane was trying his best to make both of the girls feel as comfortable as possible and throwing Hayley this huge birthday party was a part of the plan.

While Hayley played with her friends from daycare, Shane and Mitchie sat a table away from the other parents so they could talk and have a bit of alone time.

"Thank you." Mitchie said to Shane, grabbing the plate of cake he was handing her. She set it down in front of her and looked back at him. She didn't say anything, though. Instead, she just looked at him and thought about all the nice things he had done for her in the past week. He had graciously given up his bedroom so she and Hayley could have a room while he crashed on the couch. He had thrown together this huge party for Hayley. She even found out that he went and knocked Ken around a few times. In a way, she wasn't just saying 'Thank you' for the cake, she was saying it for much more.

"What?" Shane turned his attention away from the bouncy castle Hayley was bouncing in to meet Mitchie's gaze which was fixated on him. He flashed her a smile causing her to smile herself.

"I was just thinking about all that you've done for me lately and-" Shane held up his hands telling her to stop.

"How many time do I have to tell you, you don't have to thank me. I'm Hayley's dad and your boyfriend. I'm not doing these things because I feel bad for you or whatever. I'm doing them because I care about you both, alright?" Mitchie nodded at his words and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. They had this rule about not showing any affection in front of Hayley but she was so busy playing Shane doubted she would notice. He didn't think about the other parents though.

"Mitchie, Sean!" The two of them watched as Caroline took a seat in front of them, blocking their view of the playing children. Shane noticed she was dressed less uptight than she was the last time he saw her. Today she was wearing a light pink J. Crew hoodie and khaki shorts. Such a soccer mom, Shane thought.

"Hey Caroline," Mitchie greeted the woman with a forced smile.

"Yeah my name is Shane." Shane reminded her. Caroline looked as if she was about to roll her eyes at him but instead flashed her bleached smile at him.

"Of course! You're Shane Gray. Famous rock star." she said as if she was some sort of TV announcer. "You know, Ken told everyone at the office what happened."

Mitchie felt a knot twist up in her stomach. The only person she had really talked about that whole situation with was Shane. The last thing she wanted was a law firm full of strangers knowing how Ken gave her a lovely black eye before they ended their engagement.

Shane saw the look on Mitchie's face and decided to step in. "Caroline, we're here to celebrate Hayley turning three, not gossip."

"You know," Caroline brought her voice to a whisper. "I'm the only one here who knows about you two being together but everyone is starting to get suspicious. They're starting to wonder if you got Hayley a new daddy for her birthday."

Shane shot up from the table and stood over Caroline. The woman smiled to Mitchie before standing up to face Shane. For a woman, she was only a few inches shorter than Shane. He clenched his jaw as he tried to find the words to tell her. Who did she think she was bringing up the Ken situation and trying to call Mitchie a bad mother or something? She was way out of line. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the other parents staring at him from the corner of his eye. He figured they sent her over to get the whole story. He sat back down, folded his hands on top of the table and shook his head. He used to think gossip magazines were bad but nothing beats the gossip suburban moms.

Mitchie watched as Caroline walked back over to the other parents who immediately began glancing at her and Shane and snickering to each other. It reminded her of when she was back in high school and that was an experience she rather not relive. She slid her arm around Shane and brought her lips up to his ear.

"Can we leave? I-I really can't take them," she whispered. Shane nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead before standing up and walking up to one of the bouncy castles to get Hayley. As he walked, he looked over to the group of gossiping parents and shook his head. He couldn't believe a bunch of adults were acting like this.

"Hey Haylz," Shane called out poking his head inside the bouncy castle. The little girl bounced over to him smiling. "Let's get out of here. I'm gonna take you and your mom to dinner for your big day, okay?"

"Can we go somewhere were they have cheeseburgers?" Hayley asked as she jumped out of the castle and onto Shane's back.

"We can go anywhere you want kiddo," he told her with a laugh. He looked over to the exit and saw Mitchie standing there waiting. Hayley waved bye to her friends and some of the parents as they walked out. Shane just shot all of the parents one last dirty look.

"Did you have fun, honey?" Mitchie asked Hayley, who was still latched onto Shane.

"Yes! But mommy, I have a question." As they reached Shane's car, Shane placed Hayley on the ground and leaned against the car waiting to hear her question.

"Go ahead sweetie," Mitchie told Hayley.

The little girl twisted her face as if she was searching for the right way to phrase what she was thinking. "Tony told me that his mom said that you and Shane were...dating. But I don't know what dating means so I just told Tony to shut up. What does dating mean?"

"Uh," Mitchie looked over to Shane who stood there leaned against the car looking calm. He shrugged at her. Maybe it was time to tell Hayley the truth? "Well sweetie, see when two people like each other, they date each other."

"So you like Shane?" Hayley didn't even giver Mitchie time to answer before she turned her head to Shane. "Shane, do you like my mommy?"

"I'm afraid so kiddo." Shane answered. Once again, Hayley's face twisted into a look of confusion.

"But what about daddy? I thought you liked daddy," Mitchie grabbed both of the little girl's hands. Maybe this was too much to explain to a three year old.

"Sometimes Hayley, you can like someone and then one day, you just don't like them anymore. That's what happen with me and your dad..." Mitchie bent down to Hayley's eye level. "But I'm gonna tell you something, alright? Ken – daddy was just...pretending to be your dad while Shane was gone. See, Shane is really your daddy. Do you understand?"

Hayley stared at Mitchie then looked up at Shane. "So daddy really isn't my daddy, Shane is?"

Mitchie nodded slowly. She wasn't sure if she was explaining this well enough.

"So I can call Shane daddy?" Again, Mitchie nodded. Hayley shrugged and walked over to Shane. "Daddy, can you open the door?"

Shane smiled to himself as he opened the backseat door and Hayley climbed into the backseat and into her car seat. Mitchie walked over to Shane, her cheeks red. He opened his arms and embraced her in a hug.

"You handled that well." he told her, squeezing her tight.

"Yeah well I guess I can just be thankful Hayley's a smart kid and she likes you so you being her new dad isn't such a big deal." she said holding him as tightly as he was holding her.

"Speaking of being thankful," Shane started, releasing her from his grip. "How would you and Hayley like to spend Thanksgiving in New Jersey?"

"Why New Jersey?" Mitchie asked.

"Because it's nice there...and I want you to meet my parents," Shane said the last part quickly. "You know, you should get in the car,"

"Shane, I am not spending Thanksgiving in New Jersey with your folks." Mitchie said matter-of-factly.

"Babe, please," Shane folded his hands together to beg her. "Only Nate and Jason know about you, about us and I just want to tell my whole family, ya know? Please,"

Mitchie looked at the pathetic way he had his lips sticking out, pleading her to agree with him. She rolled her eyes and nodded to him before walking over to the passenger side of the car and hoping in.

Shane quickly entered the car and stuck the key in the ignition but didn't start the car. "That's a yes right?"

Mitchie gave Shane one of those, 'Don't-Push-It' looks so he took that as his yes. He had become extremely excited for Thanksgiving now. He couldn't wait to introduce Mitchie to his family. It was sure to be an amazing holiday.

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"You're sure this dress is fine?" Mitchie asked Shane one more time as they sat in Shane's car in the driveway of his parent's home. It was Thanksgiving day and the three of them, Hayley included, were sitting in his car waiting for Shane's brothers to arrive so they could walk in together.

"Mitchie, you look gorgeous, okay? Your dress is perfect. Your hair is amazing and no, you aren't wearing too much makeup." Shane assured her. She wanted to glare at him but all she could do was smile. She loved how he always made her feel like she was perfect even though she knew she was far from it.

"What about me daddy?" Hayley called from the backseat. Ever since her birthday, Hayley had taken to Shane being her 'new dad' quickly. She didn't really treat him any different except for calling him daddy which was music to Shane's ears.

"Both of my girls look gorgeous." he said, turning to Hayley and flashing her a smile. Just then, there was a knock on Shane's window. He unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the car.

"Nathaniel!" Shane yelled grabbing his younger brother's forehead and planting a kiss on it. Nate pushed him away and wiped his forehead with his sweater sleeve.

"You gotta stop doing that every time you haven't seen me for a long time," Nate commented still wiping his forehead. He peaked behind Shane and stared through the window and spotted Mitchie. He smiled and waved before turning back to Shane. "Well she is definitely hotter than I remember but that's probably because when I last saw her I was drunk off my ass."

Shane glared at his younger brother who held his hands up in defense. Nate frowned taking a look in the backseat. He looked back at Shane with a confused look on his face.

"Who is that?" Nate asked pointing to the little girl in the backseat.

"See I might've forgotten to mention that Mitchie and I have a daughter..." Shane said nonchalantly. Nate stared at him wide eyed as Jason and his guest joined the two boys.

"Hey Shane! Good to see you man!" Jason greeted his brother. Shane smiled at both his brother and his brother's girlfriend, Danielle.

"Excuse my language but you have a fucking daughter! And you decided to bring this up now? What the hell is wrong with you? Mom is going to freak out. Wow, you've already ruined Thanksgiving dinner and it hasn't even started yet."

Shane rolled his eyes at his brother as Jason started to catch on. He too looked in Shane's backseat and saw the little girl. "Aw, she's got your eyebrows." Jason commented.

"Oh my gosh she does! She's so adorable Shane." Danielle told him, looking for herself.

Nate stared at the couple. "Are you...I can't even deal with this right now."

Before Nate could walk off, Shane stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. "Hey, she's your niece, man. You don't have to like it but you will not be rude to her or Mitchie, okay?"

Nate sighed heavily pushing Shane's hand away from him. Shane shrugged off Nate's little temper tantrum and walked over to let Mitchie and Hayley out of the car. The three of them walked back to join Nate, Jason and Danielle to get introductions between them out of the way.

"Nate, Jason, Danielle, this is Mitchie and Hayley." Shane introduced the two of them. Mitchie shook hands with everyone while Hayley waved.

"Hey," Hayley said tugging on the end of Nate's sweater. Nate looked down to see what the little girl wanted. "Are you my Uncle Nate?"

"Yeah, I guess," Nate answered.

"My daddy told me a lot about you. I think you're pretty cool." Nate looked up at Shane who offered him a weak smile. He took his hand out of his pocket and held it up to give the little girl a high-five.

"You seem pretty cool too, kid." Nate said as he and Hayley's hands slapped together. "Now, let's go eat."

The six of them walked up toward the doorstep. Jason and Danielle were completely calm seeing as how Danielle had already met the Gray parents and Nate was too busy talking to Hayley to really care what was going on. Shane, who was holding onto Mitchie's hand could feel her shaking. He looked at her and mouthed to her to calm down. She offered him a small smile but there was no way she was going to calm down. She really loved Shane and for her, meeting his parents was a big deal. She could just imagine all the ways she could screw this up.

Jason knocked on the door a few times before it swung open and an older version of Shane stood there, arms open and a huge grin on his face.

"Jess, they're here!" he yelled back into the huge house. "Jason, Dani, how are you two?" he asked the couple, giving them both kisses on the cheek as they entered the house.

Nate walked up to his dad, his hand holding on to Hayley's. "Nate, my little boy! And a little girl?"

"Don't worry dad, Shane'll explain." Nate assured his dad, patting him on the back and entering the house with Hayley.

Shane and Mitchie walked up to Shane's dad, Mitchie putting on her best 'I'm-Totally-Not-Nervous' smile. Shane's dad smiled at Shane and looked at her, his smile fading.

"Um, hi sir I'm Mitchie," she said extending her hand that wasn't latched on to Shane's. His dad looked at her hand and then to Shane.

"She's my girlfriend." Shane clarified. Mitchie wasn't totally sure but she could swear Shane was just a nervous as she was.

"Huh." That was all Shane's dad said before walking into the house leaving the two of them on the doorstep. Mitchie laid her hand back down by her side, her face turning beet red. She turned to Shane, a frown on her face.

"He hates me. He wouldn't even shake my hand." she told him. Shane shook his head.

"He's just...look, let's just go in." Shane led her in, shutting the door behind him. The entire house smelled of all different kinds of Thanksgiving foods. Jason and Danielle were in the kitchen helping out while Nate had started watching those cheesy Thanksgiving specials on TV with Hayley. Shane grabbed Mitchie by the hand and led her to the kitchen to meet his mom.

"Hey, mom," Shane spoke. The older women looked up and set down the knife she was using to cut up vegetables with. She smiled at Shane and walked over to give him a hug.

"Shane, I've missed you! Your brothers tell me you missed the last leg of the tour?" his mom asked him.

"I'll tell you about that later, now, I want you to meet my girlfriend Mitchie." Shane said stepping aside so his mom could see Mitchie who was smiling weakly.

"Oh Shane, she's much prettier than any of your other girlfriends," his mom said walking over to Mitchie, embracing her in a warm hug. She had to admit, this greeting was much better than the cold shoulder Shane's dad gave her. "How are you honey?"

"Fine, thank you for asking. How are you?" Mitchie asked, slightly taken aback by her niceness.

"I'm wonderful, just ready to put this dinner on the table. You two go grab some seats."

Mitchie nodded as she and Shane walked over to the huge dining table. They took two seats next to each other, making sure there was one next to Mitchie so Hayley could sit and sat down.

"Okay, I love your mom. Why can't your dad be more like that?" She asked Shane half-jokingly.

"Mom's easy to impress. Dad's a little bit harder but don't worry, he'll love you." Shane told her. She wanted to believe him, she really did but there was just something about the way his dad so coldly greeted her that made her rethink this whole Thanksgiving dinner idea. But it made Shane happy and it was the least she could do after all he had done for her.

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Okay so, I have no idea why but I didn't get ANY e-mails alerting me that you guys reviewed. I don't know why but I didn't so I just assumed everyone hated the chapter. LOL Little did I know, you guys really liked it! I really love how this chapter came out and I wanted to add the actual dinner scene in here but it'd just make the chapter way long so I'm gonna leave you guys with a kind of cliff-hanger until the next update. Aren't I just so evil? HAHA.

Well leave me a review and I'll try to update before Sunday/Monday! :]

Oh! And I have this idea for a new fic, I'm gonna leave the summary so tell me if you guys would be interested in reading it! :]

No Camps Rocking: Shane said he came back to Camp Rock for a second summer to get to know Mitchie better but we all know what boys really mean by 'get you know you better'. Shane just never considered the fact he'd have to try to get to know Mitchie better while her mom hovered over the two of them, preventing his every advance. Guess they'll be no 'camps rocking' this summer...or will there?